The Department of Interior and Local Government has named the Province of Negros Oriental as a contender for the Gawad Pamana ng Lahi Award.

In a letter dated August 29, Ananias Villacorta, DILG regional director told Gov. Roel Degamo that the Province will be visited by evaluators this week.

DILG Field Officer Farrah Gentuya said that the Gawad Pamana ng Lahi Award is the “mother of all awards” given by the DILG. She said Negros Oriental qualified for this award because of its previous awards in local governance, such as the 2011 Seal of Good Housekeeping award, which it won in 2011.

Gentuya said that Negros Oriental has a score of 4.45 in the Local Provincial Governance Management System, which is “very good.”

The LPGMS, she explained, is a self-assessment tool which is used to gauge the performance of a Province in the delivery of services.

The score of Negros Oriental in the LPGMS, however, did not sit well with Rep. Pryde Henry Teves, who pointed out that the Province is in the 57th slot out of 79 provinces.

Last year, Negros Oriental was reported to be fourth among all provinces in the LPGMS due largely to the accomplishments of the late Governors Emilio Macias II and Agustin Perdices, Rep. Teves told reporters.

Teves continued that this time, under Degamo, the Province slid from fourth to 57th. “This is too much. If this was a company, I would have terminated the manager,” Teves added.

Teves said that his unsolicited advice for the Governor is to call for a meeting of all department heads and map out the plan of action which they previously did to win awards.

“And we also have consultants who are paid P22,000 a month. I don’t know if their advice is being followed,” Teves said.

In explaining Negros Oriental’s ranking in the LPGMS, Gentuya said that even though Negros Oriental obtained a very good standing of 4.45, other provinces also made the cut. She said she is not privy to any information that ranks Negros Oriental as 57th among 79 provinces, adding that she could only comment on reports that are formally received by her office.

Gov. Roel Degamo, meanwhile, said he was happy to hear the report about the Province’s very good standing, but lamented the efforts of other politicians to put him down.

“I pity Cong. Teves because he is trying hard to pull me down,” he said. Addressing the congressman, Degamo said, “If you have a desire to lead the province, let’s fight fair and square—let’s not destroy each other.”